Mesopotamian Synopsis:

The "Fertile Crescent" region of the ancient Near East developed
into more organized city-states around 3500 BCE, with Sumer being the most powerful
area. The Sumerians developed the first form of cuneiform script between 3300
and 3000 BCE. The most commonly used architectural structure was the ziggurat,
a "stepped pyramidal structure with a temple or shrine on top" (Stokstad,
47). These structures, built for the city's rulers and gods, were sometimes
grouped into temple complexes, which formed the city center. Interior walls
were often decorated with cone mosaics, while exterior walls were covered with
paint and patterns of bricks. The most highly developed form of the ziggurat
can be seen at the Nanna Ziggurat, Ur, c. 2100-2050 BCE.

Sculpture was mainly created for religious purposes, such as votive statues
which were placed in temples as symbols of the patron's devotion. Their simplified,
abstract style focuses mainly on the large eyes, to facilitate communication
with the gods. Rulers such as Sargon I and his grandson, Naramsin, used sculpture
to commemorate battles. The Stela of Naramsin, c. 2254-2218 BCE portrays the
importance and physical ability of the young ruler through the use of the hieratic
scale. The Stela of Hammurabi, c. 1792-1750 BCE portrays the leader before the
sun god Shamash, supreme judge, and lists the newly developed legal code in
cuneiform script below.

The Assyrians, who dominated the region around 1400 BCE, built large, fortified
cities and palaces to protect from invasion, that were richly decoarated. The
most famous of thse palaces are those of Sargon II, with its rich throne room,
and Assurbanipal, with its decorative alabaster panels. Mesopotamia was finally
absorbed by the Persian Empire under Cyrus II (ruled 559-530 BCE), which eventually
stretched from India to Egypt. - (source: http://www2.students.sbc.edu/hill00/seniorseminar/summary2b.html
)

~ development of city-states
~ prehistory into history with development of writing
~ common in Mesopotamian art: union of "formal" and "natural”
(G)

Sumerian Period (3000-2300 BCE)

~ each city state has its own local god with religious
site central part of city (centralized temples and citadels)
~ temple atop of ziggurat (closer to heaven)
~ White Temple (3000-2000 BCE) dedicated to god Anu, oriented to cardinal points,
ziggurat of White Temple 140' high

~ Use of the column:
(1) Not used structurally in the Near East before the Persian Empire.
(2) Rsulted from contact with Egypt, Crete, and Greece
(3) Unique forms developed by the Persians. (M-33)
~ fluting of columns derived from Greek Ionian (G)

"conventional" simplifications are universal, in societies in
which they prevail, are tacitly acceptable as comprehensible means of representation

Many of the sculptural forms, conventions, and stylizations
were established in the Protohistoric and Sumerian periods and continued
unbroken until contact was made with the Greeks in the sixth century B.C.
(M-34)

From as early a time as the Paleolithic caves, we
have evidence of people's efforts to control their environment by picture
magic. With the appearance of the Sumerians and the beginning of recorded
history, the older magic was replaced by a religion of gods, benevolent
or malevolent, who personifed the forces of nature that often contended
destructively with human hopes and designs. (G-47)

The "Fertile Crescent” region of the ancient Near East developed
into more organized city-states around 3500 BCE, with Sumer being the most powerful
area. The Sumerians developed the first form of cuneiform script between 3300
and 3000 BCE. The most commonly used architectural structure was the ziggurat,
a "stepped pyramidal structure with a temple or shrine on top” (Stokstad,
47). These structures, built for the city's rulers and gods, were sometimes
grouped into temple complexes, which formed the city center.